David Morrell dismisses any chance of WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez knocking him out in their February 1 fight.
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) says Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) doesn’t have the power at 175 to do anything to him in their bout, and that’s going to be the knock-out in their 12-round main event fight on PBC op Prime Video PPV. Morrell has great strength, speed, movement, skills and youth advantage.
Although Benavidez is only a year older at 27, he looks in his early 30s. This could be because of all the hard sparring he has had over the years with fighters like Gennadiy Golovkin. Being beaten by someone like that would age anyone.
Volume punching will be risky for Benavidez
Benavidez was never a big puncher when he fought at 168, and the vast majority of his knockouts came from an accumulation of shots against much smaller, lesser opposition. Hence, the ‘weight bully’ label given to Benavidez by some hardcore boxing fans, who noted that he was huge for the super middleweight division after he rehydrated.
If Benavidez is going to try to overwhelm Morrell with volume, it’s going to put him at risk of getting knocked out because he’s considered the biggest puncher in the 175-lb division. Morrell probably has better power than Artur Beterbiev, and he will hurt Benavidez if he tries to throw a lot of shots. That style only worked at 168, but it’s not suited for the 175-lb division. If Benavidez keeps fighting like this, he could eat his foot through a straw for the rest of his days.
Benavidez’s first fight at 175 was on June 15, last summer, against former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk. He showed no strength and was weak compared to his opponent.
That fight was almost a nightmare for Benavidez as he took a massive amount of punishment and was lucky the bout took place in Nevada because it looked like it was a draw. The judges gave Benavidez the win, but he didn’t look like he was winning.
Benavidez’s lack of power has shown that he will have to rely on 100% volume punching at 175 lbs. to win fights, not on his size and certainly not on his punching power.
Morrell: Benavidez is nervous
David Benavidez: “You talked all that s***. I’m going to break your jaw. Man, you are a stupid s***. Why do you get excited? Now he’s going to go on Instagram. Look at this man. He’s nervous, man,” Benavidez said during Tuesday’s kickoff conference.
David Morrell: “You don’t have strength at 175. Do you have the power to break my mouth? Hell, no. Hell, no. You have no power. Shut the fuck up, what do you mean?”
Morrell is right about Benavidez not having the strength to break his jaw, but he’s still going with the same mindset he had when he fought at 168. When Benavidez fought in that weight class, he was so much bigger than his opponents that he could use his size to overpower them. Things are different at 175. He is just one of the regular contenders. His WBC interim is a trinket title and means nothing. That certainly doesn’t mean that Benavidez is on the level of the top fighters.
“It’s simple. He is nervous. What does a cat do when threatened? It takes out its claws, and that’s what it did. He feels threatened. He was intimidated,” Morrell told the media about Benavidez making threats during their press conference today.
“I have everything for David Benavidez. I have the movement, the dance. I am fast and have strength. A lot of people fighting Benavidez have three or two or one. I have everything to (beat) Benavidez. I got everything. I have the legs. I can do it,” Morrell said.
